GOP Rep. Grilled Over Struggling Farmers: ‘Are You Listening To Your Constituents?’

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar on Tuesday demanded an answer from Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) about the concerns of struggling farmers, one of whom recently said the industry is in extremely dire straits as a direct result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Alford appeared on “News Central” to discuss the matter with Keilar and quickly noted that the president has announced a $12 billion relief package for farmers, maintaining that Trump is solving the problem without acknowledging that he caused it.

“We are giving the farmers their safety nets through 80% of the farm bill that was passed through the One Big Beautiful Bill,” the Missouri Republican told Keilar. “Those safety nets are there. An increase in reference prices. We are helping the American farmers.”

Alford added that Trump “knows the importance of feeding America and the world.”

Keilar noted that some farmers themselves appear to disagree, citing one in particular who reportedly confronted Alford during a town hall earlier this year to state that Trump’s tariff policy “really affects my world” and that the lawmaker is “skirting the issue of China.”

Keilar also noted that American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland told CNN on Tuesday that the Trump relief package “will only take care of about a quarter of the losses” that the average soybean farmer in the U.S. has endured this year.

Trump announced a sweeping 10% baseline tariff in April on all U.S. imports, with levies on many countries set even higher. China, the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans, responded by halting those purchases entirely before resuming at a drastically lower level.

This has left U.S. farmers who rely on China in a difficult position, and while Trump plans to pay them under the Agriculture Department’s new Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, even Fox News star Brit Hume said this is only necessary because of his tariffs.

Keilar on Tuesday asked Alford if the Trump administration is aware that farmers have been forced to pay a higher price for necessary materials such as fertilizer as a result of the tariffs — while selling their product at a much lower level because of those same tariffs, as well.

“Do you think the administration is understanding this?” Keilar asked Alford, who replied: “They do, and they understand as I do that it was [former President] Joe Biden that drove up the price of fertilizer and fuel with his war on fossil fuels.”

“Well, no, that’s not what this farmer told you,” she said. “So what do you say to him?”